Bill Paxton’s Family Earns Legal Win in Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Bill Paxton’s family has earned a major legal win in their 2018 wrongful death lawsuit against the anesthesiologist medical group they accused as being responsible. According to People, the family has come to a settlement with the General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership in a wrongful death/negligence suit filed following Paxton’s death in 2017. Court documents submitted on Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court revealed that attorneys for the co-defendants are seeking approval of a settlement between Paxton’s family and General Anesthesia in the amount of $1 million.

Paxton died on Feb. 25, 2017, while undergoing heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Notably, General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership has denied any direct responsibility in the actor’s death, but the new legal documents indicate that the purpose of the settlement is to reach a compromise that would “reasonably compensate plaintiffs and avoid exposing defendant to an expensive and time consuming litigation.” NBC News reports that the court filing states the settlement is dependent on a judge finding it was made in good faith. Deadline adds that a trial of the remainder of the lawsuit filed by the actor’s widow Louise Paxton and their children, James and Lydia Paxton, is set for September 19.

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Paxton’s death was a shocking tragedy in the Hollywood community, and continues to leave a mark on many of his friends and former co-stars. Back in August, Amanda Seyfried — who played Paxton’s on-screen daughter in Big Love — shared a photo of them together from the set of their hit HBO show. “Bill and me,” she wrote in the post caption. “Sorting through the thousands of photos I’ve packed away over the years has been mostly fun but every once in a while I find one that brings me to my knees. I got so lucky to know this man and feel his bright, warm light so often while playing his daughter on Big Love. He was wonderful and so deeply loved and I miss him.”

Seyfried’s followers showered the post with kind and supportive comments, with one writing, “The problem with movies and TV is that we, the audience, never get to fully know what wonderful, kind and warm hearted souls those whom act out on the screen really are. I liked Bill, not as a celebrity or actor but for the person that I felt he was, daft as it sounds but I just had a feeling, a gut feeling, that he was a lovely chap, something about his eyes and perhaps, some aspects of his personality came through in his performances and I think moreso when the scene mirrors with aspects of his own persona for it was the kind, caring, warm and thoughtful scenes where I could see something genuine coming through and you have just confirmed what I thought.”

The fan added, “It really upset me terribly when I heard of his passing and I can not begin to imagine how you and all those who knew him must have felt. I do empathise and I’m so glad though that you have that truly lovely photo of you both together and I hope that you keep it somewhere in a frame so that you can be reminded of those moments together and I hope that, every time that you see it, your heart is filled with warmth rather than sadness. Thank you so very much for this lovely post and for reminding us of this lovely guy.”